Automatic book or document binding, by the use of a helically formed binding element, or coil, is a relatively recent technology. One of the innovators of such technology, and the assignee of this invention, is UNICOIL, INC. of Norcross, Ga., which has developed a line of compact products for punching an aligned row of holes along the edges of a stack of sheets, then automatically inserting a binding element or coil therein, to produce a legal, engineering or marketing type document, for example. With the introduction of color copiers, this new technology has opened the door to new marketing approaches for different products or services.
Until the present development, the binding process was limited by the manual feeding of binding elements to an inserter machine. Briefly, and by way of additional background, the binding elements, typically formed from a continuous reel of plastic filament, ranging in size from about 5 to 50 mm, by helically winding such filament on a mandrel, having a diameter essentially equal to the I.D. of the final binding element, then heating the mandrel and filament to set the helical shape of the binding element. While the binding elements may vary in length, a common length is 11 inches for binding together standard 81/2.times.11 sheets. In any case, the helically set binding elements are cut to size and randomly placed in a suitable container for use in the binding operation. Unfortunately, such binding elements typically become intermingled where removal of one from the container often requires the operator to separate two or more intermingled binding elements. This unnecessarily adds labor costs and slows the effective rate of the insertion process.
The present invention avoids the labor intensive steps of the prior art semi-automatic binding element insertion systems by the provision of an automatic feeding station utilizing a bandolier strip of separately packaged helically wound binding elements, and feeding same into an inserter station without operator handling. The manner by which this labor saving mechanism achieves the desired goals will become apparent in the description which follows, particularly when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.